Gary, or Gaz, Regan is a legend in the booze world. A prolific spirits writer, regular instructor, and quirky mixologist, Regan is one of Tidal’s most influential bloggers.
Regan arrived in New York City in 1973 at the age of 22. Raised around the pub scene of England, Gaz made the natural transition to bartending state-side. He began his spirit writing career in 1990 and published his first book, The Bartender’s Bible in 1991. Since then his writing credits have multiplied. Regan currently pens The Cocktailian, a bi-weekly column for The San Francisco Chronicle. He also contributes regularly to Liquor.com’s Tidal site, Drinkwire where Regan acts as an Advisory Board Member, Pro Bartender and blogger.
We caught up with Regan to learn more about his contributions to DrinkWire, why he participates in the community, and how he shares his passion for spirits and bartending with others.
How long have you been a contributor to DrinkWire?
Since the very beginning, though I’m afraid I don’t remember quite when that was.
What is your passion?
Being of service. Bartenders have a unique opportunity to change the world by making their guests happy, and I believe that that can be achieved by being of service, and mindfully managing the mood of the bar to achieve that goal. If one bartender makes ten people happier than they were on any given Tuesday night, imagine what an impact that would have on the world if 10 million bartenders all did the same thing on that same night.
How do you find an outlet for that passion?
Via bartending and other bartenders. Writing about drinks is my way of keeping my finger on the pulse of the bartending community, so I’m constantly in touch with literally tens of thousands of bartenders worldwide. It makes my little heart glad.
Is Drinkwire helping you share your passion?
Yes, absolutely. Whenever DrinkWire publishes any of my blog postings I always get new subscribers to my newsletters.
Do you have advice for other food and drink writers who want to share their passion with others and engage with likeminded people?
Think of DrinkWire as a marketing tool, and use it to everyone’s advantage. It works very well, indeed in expanding your reach to like-minded people.
I hear you have a tradition of stirring drinks with your finger…Can you tell me about that? What’s the theory behind that method?
This all started as “a bit of shtick” a few years ago, and I soon realized that, whenever I do it, it puts smiles on the faces of everyone around, and that’s the primary job of a bartender, right?
Read Gary’s posts and check out other writings by DrinkWire contributors, here!
Photo Credit: Alys Tomlinson
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By: Tidal Labs
Engage the wave
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